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Listen for church bells this weekend

Ringers from UK, Canada in town for training event

Bell ringer John Mulvey, right, from England, works with Janice Satchel, a bell ringer with St. James Episcopal Church on Thursday. Change ringers from around the United States, Canada and Great Britain are taking part in a training course at the church. The St. James Guild of Change Ringers is hosting the annual North American Guild of Change Ringers meeting this week.

Mike Dirks / Times-News

By Amy B. McCrawTimes-News Correspondent

Published: Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, September 27, 2013 at 5:02 p.m.

The Tower Bells at St. James Episcopal Church filled the church and even parts of North Main Street with their unique sound much of this week as bell ringers from across the U.S., Canada and Great Britain came to the Hendersonville church for training.

Facts

Hear the bells

Where: St. James Episcopal Church, 766 N. Main St., HendersonvilleWhen: Practice is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The bells will be rung for services at 9 and 11:15 a.m. Sunday.Info: Call 693-0319 or visit www.stjamesepiscopal.diocesewnc.org.

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The bells will continue to ring their steady flow of notes from the church's tower today and Sunday for all to enjoy.

“We are very, very pleased to host this thing,” Bob Aldinger, the ringing master at St. James, said of the training for the bell ringers. “We are enthusiastic about hosting.”

About 65 change ringers, including local ringers from St. James and people who traveled from other parts of the country and overseas, began training on Wednesday.

The ringers will train today at the church from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and ring the bells for church services on Sunday.

Teachers, including Aldinger and several others, will help the bell ringers advance in their methods and techniques of bell ringing and improve their skills and versatility as ringers. Some of the instructors have traveled from England and Canada, while others are visiting from other parts of the United States.

“They would be coming anyway and will be helping out in different ways,” Aldinger said.

Anyone near the church this weekend will be able to hear the bells as the ringers practice their skills, he said.

Sunday's services at 9 and 11:15 a.m. will also include more bell ringing than on typical Sunday mornings. Visitors are welcome to come to the church to hear and learn more about the bells.

The St. James Guild of Change Ringers is part of the North American Guild, which has about 500 members.

The change-ringing tower at St. James is one of only two such towers in North Carolina, while 44 towers exist in the United States. There are eight change-ringing towers in Canada. The majority of change ringers, about 40,000, live in England, where there are 5,000 towers.

Members of the North American Guild take turns hosting an annual meeting, and this year St. James was chosen as the host church, Aldringer said.

Aldinger said he thought St. James was chosen to host the training because of the church's support of the bell ringers and the natural beauty of the area.

Change ringing began in England in the 17th century and followed Anglican settlers to commonwealth nations.

Change ringers ring a set of tuned bells, usually six or eight, at a steady cadence in a manner that changes the order of the notes in regular patterns. Changing the position of the bells changes the sequence in which they are rung, which produces a steady flow of notes in changing sequence, rather than a melody.

Achieving the steady cadence requires both a particular technique by the ringers and a special way of hanging the bells, according to a church brochure about the bells at St. James.

Almost anyone with physical coordination can learn to ring the bells by mastering the skills of basic bell handling and practicing the art of ringing the bell at the precise moment needed to maintain the steady cadence of quality ringing, according to the church brochure.

The bells, including the eight in the tower at St. James, were traditionally and still are rung to call worshippers to service, to commemorate the lives of people who have died, to celebrate weddings and to mark special events such as the inauguration of a president or the birth of a royal.

The tower and bells at St. James were a gift to the community through a bequest from the late Sadie Smathers Patton. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London cast the bells and supervised their installation.

Both the tower and the bells were dedicated in 1978 and were first rung that year on Pentecost Sunday.

The bells are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in honor of the four Gospels, and Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in recognition of Hendersonville as the City of Four Seasons.

<p>The Tower Bells at St. James Episcopal Church filled the church and even parts of North Main Street with their unique sound much of this week as bell ringers from across the U.S., Canada and Great Britain came to the Hendersonville church for training.</p><p>The bells will continue to ring their steady flow of notes from the church's tower today and Sunday for all to enjoy.</p><p>“We are very, very pleased to host this thing,” Bob Aldinger, the ringing master at St. James, said of the training for the bell ringers. “We are enthusiastic about hosting.”</p><p>About 65 change ringers, including local ringers from St. James and people who traveled from other parts of the country and overseas, began training on Wednesday.</p><p>The ringers will train today at the church from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and ring the bells for church services on Sunday.</p><p>Teachers, including Aldinger and several others, will help the bell ringers advance in their methods and techniques of bell ringing and improve their skills and versatility as ringers. Some of the instructors have traveled from England and Canada, while others are visiting from other parts of the United States.</p><p>“They would be coming anyway and will be helping out in different ways,” Aldinger said.</p><p>Anyone near the church this weekend will be able to hear the bells as the ringers practice their skills, he said.</p><p>Sunday's services at 9 and 11:15 a.m. will also include more bell ringing than on typical Sunday mornings. Visitors are welcome to come to the church to hear and learn more about the bells.</p><p>The St. James Guild of Change Ringers is part of the North American Guild, which has about 500 members.</p><p>The change-ringing tower at St. James is one of only two such towers in North Carolina, while 44 towers exist in the United States. There are eight change-ringing towers in Canada. The majority of change ringers, about 40,000, live in England, where there are 5,000 towers.</p><p>Members of the North American Guild take turns hosting an annual meeting, and this year St. James was chosen as the host church, Aldringer said.</p><p>Aldinger said he thought St. James was chosen to host the training because of the church's support of the bell ringers and the natural beauty of the area.</p><p>Change ringing began in England in the 17th century and followed Anglican settlers to commonwealth nations.</p><p>Change ringers ring a set of tuned bells, usually six or eight, at a steady cadence in a manner that changes the order of the notes in regular patterns. Changing the position of the bells changes the sequence in which they are rung, which produces a steady flow of notes in changing sequence, rather than a melody.</p><p>Achieving the steady cadence requires both a particular technique by the ringers and a special way of hanging the bells, according to a church brochure about the bells at St. James.</p><p>Almost anyone with physical coordination can learn to ring the bells by mastering the skills of basic bell handling and practicing the art of ringing the bell at the precise moment needed to maintain the steady cadence of quality ringing, according to the church brochure.</p><p>The bells, including the eight in the tower at St. James, were traditionally and still are rung to call worshippers to service, to commemorate the lives of people who have died, to celebrate weddings and to mark special events such as the inauguration of a president or the birth of a royal.</p><p>The tower and bells at St. James were a gift to the community through a bequest from the late Sadie Smathers Patton. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London cast the bells and supervised their installation.</p><p>Both the tower and the bells were dedicated in 1978 and were first rung that year on Pentecost Sunday.</p><p>The bells are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in honor of the four Gospels, and Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in recognition of Hendersonville as the City of Four Seasons.</p><p>The tenor bell, “Matthew,” weighs 1,032 pounds, while the treble bell, “Winter,” weighs 338 pounds.</p><p>In addition to the North American Guild of Change Ringers, the St. James Guild of Change Ringers is also affiliated with the Central Council of Ringers in London.</p><p>For more information about the bells at St. James, call the church at 693-0319 or visit the church's website at www.stjamesepiscopal.diocese wnc.org.</p>